


One Proposal or Two

by just_phantasizing



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Fluff, Japhan, M/M, Phan - Freeform, Phandom - Freeform, Phanfiction, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-16 07:33:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4616712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_phantasizing/pseuds/just_phantasizing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan has been planning to propose to Phil in Japan for months, but secretly Phil has bought a ring for the exact same reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Proposal or Two

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was the first ever fanfiction I posted on tumblr, so I decided to post it on AO3 too! It's about Dan and Phil's trip to Japan and what might have happened. (; I hope you like it!

“Dan, Dan, Dan!” Phil whispered urgently, grabbing his shoulder and gently shaking him awake. Dan mumbled softly, squeezing his eyes shut and burying his face deeper into Phil’s shoulder. The muffled hum of the airplane had lulled him off to sleep a few hours earlier, and he didn’t want to awaken from his hazy, color-streaked dream world. “Daaaaaan,” Phil intensified his quest to wake him up, brushing the hair back from Dan’s forehead and raising the visor on the window to allow a little more sun to creep in and unfurl across his face. Phil smiled down at Dan, his eyes crinkling in at the edges. Dan always looked so incredibly peaceful when he was sleeping, you would never know his brain was a positive turmoil of tumbling thoughts and questions about humanity’s existence. Those were the traits Phil liked the most about Dan though. He was bold and declarative and not afraid to question society and other people’s opinions whereas Phil was a bit more shy and quiet, yet altogether impossibly sweet and loving. Dan was, as Phil liked to affectionately refer to him, his personal bodyguard, and Phil was Dan’s saving grace, always instinctually knowing exactly when to distract him from his darkening thoughts and pull him back from the black hole he was drifting towards.

  
Dan stiffened and yawned, blinking repeatedly at the newfound brightness as he struggled to get his eyes to adjust. “Hey, isn’t repeating your name continuously supposed to be my line, Phil,” Dan teasingly remarked, as he gazed up at Phil’s silhouette through his muddy, sleep-addled eyes.

Dan’s eyes finally began to focus, and he saw Phil looking down at him with the most utter and open look of love that Dan suddenly felt a rush of shyness and ducked his head to hide behind his brown fringe. Dan smiled to himself, Phil was never one to hide his emotions and loved with such fervor and disregard for anyone around them that Dan sometimes felt a bit overwhelmed. Of course, it was a good overwhelmed, but Dan always felt guilty for never giving the same level of love back. In reality, he probably loved Phil more than anyone had ever loved another person, it was just a process of translating those feelings into words and that was something Dan was no good at. He was hoping to cross this barrier on the trip though, and had been planning for a long time about what to say when he finally proposed.

  
Dan could not believe he was really going to ask this gorgeous boy sitting next to him to marry him. It seemed like just the other day, Dan had been getting off the train, a lost and lonely kid with no one to turn to, and had seen Phil standing there looking like an absolute angel. In the moment before Phil found him in the crowd, Dan saw him as a stranger would. A tall boy, long black hair swept over one side of his face, slightly slouched with his hands shoved deep in his pockets and a searching look on his face, but utterly beautiful and distinct against the churning mob of people flowing around him. He was strong and constant, standing there in the middle of the train station, and then when Phil’s brilliant blue eyes finally collided with Dan’s face, Dan felt a rush of such joy because he wasn’t a stranger at all and that tall boy was here only for him. From that moment on, Dan had experienced the life that he had always dreamed of, filled with happiness, laughter, and light and it all revolved around Phil, the one who had pulled him back from the precipice of disaster. He glanced over now at Phil who had turned and was gazing out of the airplane window at the skyline.

  
Phil, noticing Dan’s movement, twisted back around and said excitedly, “Look Dan! I think we are starting to descend!” He grabbed Dan’s hand and pulled him practically onto his lap while stabbing at the window repeatedly with his finger, “See!”

  
“Yes Phil, I see,” Dan giggled, looking out the window over a mass of twinkling lights, the ground below littered with row after row of houses eventually melding into steep skyscrapers and high rises jutting straight up and towering over the miniscule neighborhoods clustered around them. The city seemed beautiful and otherworldly from up here, silent and still from Dan and Phil’s high up perch in the clouds. It was strange that the people down there were experiencing a whole different world, one filled with a symphony of noise, the murmur of car engines blending into the eternal background of human life: babies babbling, children shouting, adults conversing in hushed tones, street vendors preaching to the crowd; yet Dan and Phil heard none of it, wrapped in their own tiny world looking down on the city below. The city that might hold one very important memory for them, Dan thought and squeezed Phil’s hand in anticipation.

  
The landing had been quite smooth fortunately. Dan had always been a bit terrified of planes. He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the fact that he was in a tiny metal cocoon hurtling thousands of feet off the ground by the pure force of some scientific properties he couldn’t be bothered to know. So as they came in for the landing, he had grabbed Phil’s hands a bit tighter and tensed his muscles bracing for the jolting impact of the plane’s wheels skidding into the runway. Phil, knowing Dan’s fear all too well, had quickly picked up on his distress and distracted him easily with a kiss on the forehead and some random facts about the life cycle of a moth that soon had Dan going, “What on earth are you on about Phil?” His fear suddenly forgotten as Phil gently steered his mind towards brighter things. The plane, now fully stopped at the terminal, began unloading and Dan jumped up to grab both his and Phil’s suitcases down from the overhead compartment. They rushed off to baggage claim, meeting their tour guide and translator along the way who would be accompanying them around the city.

  
As they approached the glass sliding doors that would soon open allowing them to leave the airport behind and enter into the bustling city, Dan grabbed Phil’s wrist and then slid his hand down to intertwine his fingers with Phil’s longer ones. He wanted to experience the first glimpse of this new world together, and he knew Phil felt the same way because he quickly glanced over and smiled excitedly at him while swinging their arms between them. Dan took a deep breath and stepped through the sliding doors as they opened with a whoosh, blowing a burst of fresh air into his face.

  
The rest of that morning was spent touring the city. They visited the more historical areas and half listened to their tour guide while continuously being distracted by the wonders around them. Dan would sneak little glances at Phil out of the corner of his eye, his smile broadening as he saw the absolute childlike wonder with which Phil experienced the little shops around them and the beautiful scenery.

  
After a busy morning of sight-seeing, the tour guide led them to a small sushi shop nestled in between two larger buildings. The shop’s exterior was a bit run down but the rows of potted plants lining the walkway and the fresh red paint on the shuttered windows gave off a distinct charm that was actually quite welcoming. Dan and Phil ducked to enter the tiny doorframe, as they so often did in this city not built to accommodate giants, and entered into a large room bustling with activity. Sushi carts clacked as they were wheeled between tables, people busily took orders and whisked fresh dumplings and dim sum onto people’s awaiting plates. There was a constant ripple of conversation as dozens of people chatted to their neighbors, some with heads close together discussing life in hushed tones while others gestured grandly announcing their opinions to not only their tables but everyone in the shop. Dan and Phil were quickly ushered to a small table in the corner where they sat, thankful for the privacy granted to them. They had left their tour guide outside after convincing her that they wanted to spend the afternoon alone and that yes they would be fine walking the city by themselves. Now seated at their table, they ordered a variety of food, wanting to try as many new dishes as they could, and devoured it all while simultaneously reminiscing together about their unforgettable morning.

After finishing up their lunch, they exited the shop, hands linked, and headed off towards the heart of the suburbs. Dan was hoping to surreptitiously lead Phil towards a small park located in the center of the city where he planned to finally pop the question, but it seemed Phil already knew the way as he continued to turn in the right direction before Dan could say a word. What Dan didn’t know was that pressed against Phil’s leg was a small box identical to Dan’s hiding a gold band inside, and he was bringing him to the exact same park where he planned to drop down on one knee.

  
As they walked, their long legs eating up the pavement, their excitement and anxiety over this moment grew. They peeked in store windows and sampled the different flavors of Tokyo from the street vendors along the way. Phil kept skipping ahead and then turning back to excitedly point out specific things to Dan, and Dan would smile and laugh along with him, his excitement not so pronounced on the exterior, but inside he was secretly reeling with joy.

  
They finally reached the entrance to the garden, and Dan grabbed Phil’s hand and pulled him into the small alleyway that led them through an archway and opened up into an enclosed paradise bursting with green and pink hues. The trees silently swayed in the wind, and the sun had just begun to set as Dan turned around to Phil, steeling himself to finally ask the one question he’d been thinking about for months. But when he turned, his mouth dropped because instead of seeing Phil stood before him, he was down on one knee and pulling out a small blue box from his pocket. Phil quietly raised his eyes to Dan’s chocolate brown ones, and opened his mouth, just beginning to speak when Dan interrupted him.

  
“No, no, no,” Dan shook his head vehemently, his hair getting ruffled in the process, a sure sign he truly was agitated because Dan spent hours getting every hair to lie perfectly in place. “Get up, get up please,” he demanded.

  
“What?” Phil choked out, his face falling in a crash of emotion, his cheeks sagged, his smile dropped, and his soul plummeted. Was Dan rejecting him so easily? Did he just imagine everything between them? He had a tendency to over-emote and was used to giving more then he received, but he had definitely felt the spark between them. It couldn’t have all been him. His heart wasn’t used to hurting so much, and he didn’t know it was possible for it to not only break, but seemingly disappear altogether leaving him cold and senseless. Phil turned from Dan and stumbled down the pathway, his face stricken and staring straight ahead.

  
“Wait!” Dan called, “No, no, Phil come back! That’s not what I meant. Please turn around.” Phil’s heart stirred, as it always did in response to Dan, and the desperation in Dan’s plea prompted Phil to slowly turn back towards the boy he loved. And what he saw brought his heart back to life.

  
Dan, his Dan, sat kneeling on the grass. The sun cast a glowing light through the cherry trees and seemed to set everything on fire. The leaves flickered and danced, tiny flames bobbing in the breeze, and a few blossoms twisted loose and drifted lazily down on tiny wind currents. In the middle of this inferno sat a boy who outshone them all, and immediately set Phil’s soul on fire. Dan’s hand was outstretched offering up a tiny blue velvet box, and in that box nestled a gold band gleaming brightly in the setting sun. Dan’s face was set in a worried frown, but when he saw Phil turn around and smile at him, his lips burst into the most radiant grin that even the sun seemed dim in comparison. Phil walked over hesitantly at first, but then broke into a half run, halting in front of Dan and gazing down at him with an expression that completely ravished Dan and made him lose his train of thought.

  
“Phillip Lester,” Dan began, his voice shaking a bit.

  
“Wait,” Phil interrupted, “did you just deny my proposal because you wanted to propose to me yourself!” Phil’s voice rose steadily as he talked, ending in a rush of noise.

  
“Well, yes,” Dan said sheepishly. Seeing Phil still wasn’t convinced of his good intentions, Dan rushed to get out his thoughts. “Look, I’m sorry Phil, I didn’t realize what it would seem like I was saying! Even though you have to admit you were a tiny bit dramatic weren’t you?” Dan questioned with a half-smile that let Phil now he was teasing him. “I needed to finally show how much I love you and I’ve been planning this for so long. I stopped you before I even registered what I was doing. It’s hard for me to show my feelings as much, you know that. You,” Dan’s voice caught and he paused to collect himself. Taking in a shaky breath, he repeated, “You’re like a brilliant ray of sunshine, your love is constant and vast and always flowing. You are a light to everyone around you and a beacon of hope to so many people. I don’t know how you have so much to give, but that’s one of the reasons I love you so much. You were first everything for us: first kiss, first I love you, first mention of our future. I needed to show you what you truly mean to me.” Dan stared up at Phil, “You saved me, and you’re still saving me every day, and I feel a bit guilty sometimes when I don’t give as much in return,” Dan trailed off, his voice rough and rich with love and tenderness.

  
“Dan,” Phil said urgently, grabbing Dan’s hand and tracing gentle circles on the back with his thumb. “You may not be continuously showcasing your love, but is a shooting star any less beautiful and meaningful because it doesn’t occur as often? Really, it’s even more special, and when it does come around it lights up the entire night sky. That’s just like you. Don’t ever feel guilty, people are different and love is different, and that’s what makes it so perpetually confusing. But, when you find the person who meshes with you in every way imaginable, it makes every day utter bliss. Just like how it is for us.” Phil squeezed Dan’s hand, and Dan looked up at him, his eyes shining with unfallen tears.

Grinning through the tears, Dan continued, “but yeah, I also wanted to be able to tell everyone that I was the one that proposed,” Dan admitted, smirking cutely at Phil and then bursting into laughter.

  
“You really are the worst person in the world,” Phil said with a smile that lit up the whole world and chased every shadow away. “And that’s why, obviously the answer is yes,” and then he pulled Dan up onto his feet and brought their lips together in a collision of love and memories and the promise of a beautiful future together. And Dan couldn’t remember a time he had ever felt happier.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback or comments would be absolutely amazing, I would love to hear what you thought :D


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